February 1928
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Charles Wesley, Sweet Singer of Methodism B y P rof . J ohn B issell T rowbridge f HARLES W ESLEY , “ the sweet singer of Meth odism,” was co-worker with his brother, John, the great religious awakening of the eigh teenth century, often referred to as “ The Wes leyan Revival.” This movement stirred English society to its depths and had a distinct influence in bringing about a permanently improved condition. John Wesley was the leading spirit in the Revival, having a tenacity of purpose, along with his ability as an organizer and preacher, that enabled him to surmount all obstacles during his long career as an itinerating evangelist —an activity that continued almost to the time o f his death in 1791. But Charles added the inspiring influences of his- warmer temperament and his hymns, without which the results would have been different. Both John and Charles are said to have testified that more conversions resulted from their hymn singing than from their preaching. Every great religious movement has been accompanied by a “ burst of song,” and here was the élément that touched men’s emotions and prepared the way for the message— at the same time planting its own seed-truth where dis course alone could never have reached. The Wèsley family was a remarkable one— in numbers as well as in ability? Charles was the eighteenth child and youngest son in a family of nineteen. The father, Sam uel Wesley, was rector o f Epworth parish, and poet as well as preacher ; but the mother, Susanna, was by far the stronger character and left a marked impress of her firm will and godly life upon the members of her large family. She was both educator and disciplinarian. She taught her children to “ cry softly.” For years she kept regular school hours in her home for her children. Samuel remonstrated with his wife one day in the midst o f a lesson, saying to her, “ You have told this child the same thing twenty times.” T o which she replied, “ I should have lost my labor if I had Only told him nineteen, for it was at the twentieth I succeeded.” When ■Charles was a lad of fifteen at Westminster School, Garret Wesley, an Irish member of the House of Lords, wished to adopt a son who would become heir to his title and his fortune. Hearing o f Charles Wesley, a beautiful and attractive boy who bore his. own name, he made overtures to thé father regarding adoption. The parents wisely left the decision entirely to the son. He decided in the negative. And it is interesting to note that another boy, who was finally adopted by Garret Wesley, became the father of the Duke o f Wellington (Lord “ Wellesley,” as he spelled “ Wesley” ). . The course of history thus hung upon the decision of fifteen-year-old Charles Wesley. W rote Tw o H ymns a W eek During fifty years o f active service Wesley wrote more than 6,000 hymns, averaging more than two a week; and judged by quantity he is the greatest hymn writer of all time. For many years the hymns of Charles and the trans lations of John formed the greater part of the hymns sung by the Methodist societies. A large number have been laid aside with recurring editions of standard hymn books, but many still include from twenty-five to seventy- five of Wesley’s hymns. And judged also by quality the hymns o f this writer still place him in the very first ranks. In speaking o f the great mass o f English hymns, Horder,
in his “ Hymn Lover,” says, “ If Isaac Watts is the founder o f the choir, Charles Wesley’s is the noblest Voice.’.’ No voluminous writer in any branch of literature has ever been known to maintain a uniform standard o f high est excellence. The tremendous output o f this one pen must ever be kept in mind. It was Charles Wesley’s nature and habit of life to express himself in verse. On May 21, 1738, a few days after his real conversion largely through the influence o f a devout Moravian, Peter Bohler, he burst forth with “ O, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise.” “ For the anniversary day of one’s conversion,” as Wesley himself entitled it. And so in every incident o f his life that stirred his imagination his natural expression was in verse. Reading about the year of Jubilee in Lev. 25, he received an inspiration for writing “ Blow ye the trumpet blow-—The year o f Jubilee has come.” He has spiritualized the wonderful scene of the “ Wrestling Jacob” in Gen, 32 in the great dramatic hymn, “ Come, O Thou Traveller Unknown”— touching upon the soul’s struggle into light, and claiming power with God. Isaac Watts said this poem was worth more than all that he himself had written. D ozens of E nduring H ymns Many a hymn writer is remembered by one hymn only •- f o r example, the writers of “ Rock of Ages,” and “ All Hail the Power o f Jesus’ Name.” But in Charles Wesley we have a writer who has left dozens o f sacred lyrics that are woven into the very warp and woof o f our church life and that of every Christian home. Who does nohknow and love “ Plark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “ Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,” - “ A Charge to Keep I Have,” “ Arise, My Soul, Arise,” “ Love Divine, All Love Ex celling;” “ Depth o f Mercy, Can There Be,” “ Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise,” and “ Ye Servants o f God,' Your Master Proclaim.” But Wesley’s greatest hymn, loved and sung by all branches of the Christian church, is “ Jesus, Lover o f My Soul.” Many stories are told concerning the occasion of the writing of the hymn, but none o f them can be authenticated. But we know that it was the over flow o f his heart in contemplation of the great central truth of the Gospel and the all-controlling impulse that comes to us from the “ heart of God.” Beecher said, “ I would rather have written that hymn than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat upon the earth.” One writer has suggested that Wesley’s writings “might be termed one great fugue, with Cowper’s lines as typical melody: “ Redeeming love has been my theme, . And shall be till I die,” and for this “ fugue” the climax with which Charles Wes ley crowns it is Wesley’s “ ruling passion” was “ strong in death” and his last effort is very touching. In his eighty-first year, about a week before his death, the impulse to write came upon him, and calling his wife to his bedside, he dictated the following lines: “ In age and feebleness extreme, Who shall a sinful worm redeem ? Jesus, my only hope thou art, “Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly.”
Strength o f my failing flesh and heart; Oh, could I catch a smile from Thee, And drop into eternity!”
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